Neighbors and Friends is a weekly series introducing the community to someone they might — or might not — know. The feature is meant to highlight everyone from neighbors to community leaders. Readers can nominate friends, neighbors and co-workers by sending the information to deb.cleworth@cwnews.net or calling 715-423-7200, ext. 6730. This week’s neighbor was suggested by her husband, David.

WISCONSIN RAPIDS – Like many people, Sharon Aiken-Bruha did not have aspirations to become a teacher. She did know one thing for sure:

“The absolute for me was anything I did had to involve art,” said the Wisconsin Rapids Area Middle School art teacher.

“I can’t imagine not being artistic or not wanting to be creative and make things,” she said. “It’s totally who I am.

“I’m an artist.”

Aiken-Bruha, who now has taught in the Wisconsin Rapids Public Schools district for more than 25 years, was honored this week with the Wisconsin Art Education Association’s state Art Educator of the Year at the organization’s 2014 conference in Milwaukee. She was nominated by Betsy Miller, a retired teacher, and Dustin Anderson, a current art teacher.

“It’s very humbling, because I feel I’m working just as hard as everybody else,” she said. “All my peers here in the district (and) across the state — we’re all working really hard to provide the best art education we can for our kids, inspiring them to enjoy the arts and to learn problem-solving skills, critical-thinking skills and all the things that are going to benefit them in their adulthood and their career someday.”

Aiken-Bruha got her start in art as a young child, when her working parents signed her up for an after-school art class.

“I absolutely loved it,” Aiken-Bruha said. “I did find I had a natural ability toward the arts; that is was something I naturally was able to do, and I loved learning all different kinds of art, and working with art, so it just kind of evolved.

“When I went to college, I was majoring in art; it was black and white to me,” she said. “And pretty much from the earliest recollection on, from that after-school art program as a child, all the way to now, it’s pretty much just been a part of my life.”

Aiken-Bruha said she’s always looking for things to learn and encourages her students to do the same.

“I just love the excitement of finding something new and trying something new,” she said.

During the school year, she doesn’t spend time on independent work — she saves that for the summer.

“That’s one of the nice things of having a skill like art and having a career that allows for an extended break, because I feel like the summer becomes my art time, and I spend a lot of time in the summer taking classes, learning things on my own personal projects,” she said. “It’s nice to have that balance, because I can flip back and forth from being the teacher and helping the students and inspiring them, but then there is also time built in that I can do that for myself.”

She belongs to “Central Wisconsin teachers and artists,” a group that meets on a regular basis to create art, take workshops and teach each other.

“We affectionately refer to each other as the art buddies,” she said. “We really work together and bounce ideas off each other, inspire each other and encourage each other.

“That’s great to have that kind of support in the area.”

And what does she tell people who say they aren’t good at art?

“You have to find your thing,” Aiken-Bruha said. “I am not very good at the potter’s wheel; throwing clay on the wheel. I’m not going to take that (one) experience and say that I can’t do this.

“Everybody has to find what form of art is suited to their nature,” she said. “It’s just a matter of finding what it is that appeals to the student.”

Like everything, it takes practice.

“I just say every time you do something, you are going to learn and get better at it,” she said. “Art may not be anything they go into for the whole rest of their life, but it’s my goal to try and to make this experience a good one for them, and they can walk away with something that they’re proud of and can say, ‘I can do this.’”

Deb Cleworth can be reached at 715-423-7200, ext. 6730, or deb.cleworth@cwnews.net. Follow her on Twitter @DebCleworth.

About Sharon

Family: Sharon and her husband have been married 29 years and live in Grand Rapids.

Favorite art medium: “It’s constantly changing,” she said. “It started out with colored pencils; I love acrylic paints and lately I’ve been getting into glass.”

Something you never leave the house without: Camera

If I had to choose another career, it would be: “I was going to be a commercial artist or graphic artist.”

What is something you are afraid of? “I hate spiders; they make my skin crawl.”

What is your favorite holiday? Fourth of July, because it’s warm, laid back and involves family and friends.

What is something on your bucket list? “No. 1 thing is to go to Ireland.”

If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would it be? “If I could go free, I’d go to Japan.” She has a student-exchange “sister” she has stayed friends with since high school.